CNG a logical step for the Coachella Valle

Here in the Coachella Valley we have public fueling stations from Desert Hot Springs to Indio, and there is soon to be a CNG Public Fueling Station in Coachella. CNG - cleaner, cheaper and domestic! Seems the folks at The St. Augustine Record in St. Augustine Florida are discovering what we here in the Coachella Valley already have. Six public CNG Fueling Stations:

• Desert Hot Springs,
• Palm Springs Airport,
• Cathedral City at the Arco Station,
• SunLine, 1000 Palms,
• Palm Desert at the Burrtec Yard,
• Indio at the SunLine Clean Air Center
• and soon in the City of Coachella at their Maintenance Facility

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One of the pluses that's not likely to change is the amount of natural gas ready to be harvested in the United States. Current estimates are that, under current usage, there's around 90 years of gas available. So if having a domestic stock of fuel is important, along with less dependence on foreign fuels, this is.

Another obvious plus of CNG is how much cleaner it burns than gas or diesel. According to the EPA, CNG can reduce carbon-monoxide emissions by over 90 percent, and nitrogen-oxide by over 50 percent, when compared to gasoline. So if reducing emissions is a goal, this is pointed in the right direction. Consumer Reports writes that CNGs will still not be as clean as the electric hybrid technology.

A third advantage — at least today — is that fuel costs are estimated to be about 35 percent lower for the consumer.

Another is that, should a CNG tank rupture in some kind of vehicle collision or other accident, the fuel vaporizes and disappears, rather than puddling and exploding.